The intercontinental ballistic missile launched by North Korea flew some 510 km and fell in the central part of the Sea of Japan, according to Russian military brass

MOSCOW, July 4. /TASS/. The North Korean ballistic missile launched on Tuesday posed no threat to Russia as it flew in the opposite direction. During its flight, the missile reached an altitude of 535 kilometers rather than 2,802 kilometers declared by North Korea, which corresponds to the parameters of a medium-range missile, the Russian Defense Ministry reported.

"The launch was carried out in the direction opposite to Russia’s borders and posed no threat to Russia," the ministry said. "The parametric data of the ballistic target flight corresponds to the tactical and technical characteristics of a medium-range ballistic missile," the ministry said.

According to the Russian Defense Ministry, the North Korean missile "reached an altitude of 535 kilometers, flew about 510 kilometers and fell in the central part of the Sea of Japan."

The ministry added that Russia’s missile attack warning system had registered the missile launch. "The Russian missile attack warning system registered the launch of a ballistic missile fired from a North Korean firing range at 3.46am Moscow Time on July 4 and then tracked the missile," it said.

North Korean missile launch

North Korea’s television earlier announced the first successful launch of the Hwasong-14 intercontinental ballistic missile. The missile reached an altitude of 2,802 kilometers and flew 933 kilometers within 29 minutes, the North Korean television added.

Japan’s Defense Ministry said that the missile launched by North Korean had exceeded an altitude of 2,500 kilometers and allegedly fell in the Sea of Japan in the country’s exclusive economic zone.